1 Chapter 1: , Friendship system

Amami, a small town in Kansas, was home to Li Yazheng, a Chinese student attending the local high school. Sitting alone in the grandstand of the playground, Li Ya watched the young men playing American football on the green field, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

"Even after 16 years, I still can't get used to it. Why did I end up here? I swear I didn't do anything. I didn't experience a car accident, a computer explosion, or even a thunderstorm. Yet, I still ended up crossing over!"

Li Ya, a simple and ordinary person, had his own home, friends, and a crush. But now, he found himself transported to this new life as if it were all a long dream, waking up to find himself a few months old.

And so, he spent the next sixteen years growing up once again.

One advantage of growing up from a young age was that there were no barriers in communicating with the people around him, and he didn't have to worry about others suspecting anything when he crossed the road.

Li Ya, or rather, Li Ya Rogers, had lost his parents ten years ago. He vaguely remembered a meteorite rain that nearly destroyed the town. His uncle, Sheriff James Rogers, informed him that his parents had gone on a distant journey during that event.

As memories of the meteorite rain resurfaced in Li Ya's mind, he couldn't help but recall what his former teacher had said about the relentless grip of capitalism...

After his parents' death, Li Ya was adopted by his uncle and took on his mother's maiden family name. However, for Li Ya, a Chinese person deeply rooted in his identity, as long as his name was Li Ya, he would carry the Li surname for life.

The sound of bells interrupted Li Ya's thoughts. The teenagers playing football on the field paused and started to rest. Quarterback Whitney, holding a big box of soda, called out to everyone:

"Hey, guys! Come here! Li Ya has invited us all to drink. Thank you, Li Ya!"

The players and cheerleaders rushed over, quickly dividing up the soda. Whitney, holding two bottles, approached Li Ya in the stands.

"Hey, thanks for the soda. You seem a bit down. Would you like to play football with us?" Whitney asked.

Although Whitney was only eighteen years old, American teenagers tended to mature quickly. He stood almost 1.58 meters tall in front of Li Ya, making the sun appear partly blocked.

Li Ya, with his mixed heritage of Chinese and European, had inherited the advantages of both sides and was quite handsome. He raised his hand, took a soda, and smiled at Whitney as he replied:

"You're trying to make me feel better, huh? He keeps bragging in front of me all day, claiming to be the star pitcher of the high school, and it annoys me!"

Whitney patted Li Ya's shoulder. "If you join us, you'll experience the charm of American football. Plus, you might attract a lot of girls... Anyway, enough talk for now. I'll go train with the boys."

As Li Ya contemplated joining the team, an electronic sound echoed in his mind.

*Ding* "Increase friendship level to friendliness. Unlock Whitney's character card."

Li Ya was familiar with this voice. It was the friendship system that had been inexplicably tied to him when he first crossed over.

The friendship system... that was probably its name.

In simple terms, friendship values were divided into six levels: hate, ordinary, friendly, trust, reverence, and life-and-death.

Li Ya had discovered that as long as he developed a friendly relationship with someone, he could obtain a character card for that person, which would grant him some of their abilities.

Once, Li Ya had formed a close bond with the mayor of the town, hoping to unlock powerful card skills. However, to his disappointment, the unlocked abilities turned out to be secret and unknown even to the mayor's wife.

This infuriated Li Ya. He couldn't help but think, "Can't this system consider the feelings of single people? Not only do I not have a girlfriend, but now I'm stealing my uncle's secrets!"

He couldn't deny that the system was quite deceptive.

Li Ya decided to check out the card skills of Whitney, who had gifted him a box of soda. He closed his eyes and accessed the friendship system with his consciousness. A row of cards resembling a picture book appeared before him, including a white card for Whitney.

Whitney's White Card:

Race: Human

Main card effect: Primary charm attributes, dating specialization, pop specialization, lady killer.

Additional note: Limited room for physical growth.

Li Ya consoled himself, thinking, "Well, these attributes are pretty good. Much better than being sneaky. And considering it was obtained in exchange for a box of soda, it's already a good deal!"

Similar to most game attributes, Li Ya's cards were graded. The weakest were ordinary white cards, slightly better were rare blue cards, followed by heroic purple cards, legendary gold cards, and epic orange cards.

"Now, equip it in the main card slot!"

The character interface of the friendship system allowed Li Ya to equip a primary card and several secondary cards. Generally, skills were effective only when equipped in the main slot, while additional attributes had limited effectiveness in the secondary slots.

The effect of the card slot depended on the friendship value.

For example, in the case of Li Ya and Whitney's friendly relationship, the main card could utilize 40% of Whitney's card effect. If their friendship value were to upgrade to trust, the effect would increase to 55%.

The higher the friendship value, the greater the card's effect.

Li Ya equipped the white Whitney card in the main card slot. In that instant, he felt as if he had acquired some kind of aura, and his overall charm improved significantly.

He exclaimed, "Wow, it feels like I suddenly learned how to charm girls... Oh my god, I finally understand why I was single in my past life!"

"I remember one time, I went out with my crush. She said her dormitory was closed, and she had to stay somewhere else. But I was so eager to go to the internet cafe and hang out with my friends all night that I didn't even open the door for her..."

"The last look she gave me wasn't one of gratitude... but disappointment! There are many more instances like that..."

Li Ya suddenly felt a heartache that made it hard to breathe. However, he suppressed the sorrow and tried to maintain a strong facade, holding back the tears.

At that moment, several cheerleader girls walked past Li Ya. They subconsciously noticed him sitting alone in the stands. One of the girls trembled with excitement and exclaimed, "Wow, that guy is so handsome, he looks even more handsome when he's melancholic!"

Li Ya overheard their words and glanced at them. They were a group of blond American high school girls. He thought, "Wow, is the effect of this card really that powerful?" But he maintained a calm expression on his face, as if saying, "I have a story, but I won't reveal it."

Then, an Asian girl approached him. She walked up with a smile, her exquisite face resembling a carefully crafted artwork.

Li Ya was acquainted with Lana Lan, the class beauty from the adjacent class. He had once made an awkward attempt to approach her, but the situation at that time could only be described as disastrous, comparable to a car accident. It was a miserable experience.

To Li Ya's surprise, Lana took the initiative to talk to him today. She said, "Hi, classmate Li Ya, I would like to ask you a favor."

With Lana's presence, the blonde girls faded into the background, and Li Ya turned his head slightly, displaying a smile that he believed was gentlemanly, but it turned out to be more of a goofy grin. He replied, "Lana, what can I do for you?"

Lana explained, "Here's the thing. Many players from our team graduated this year, so the coach wants us to recruit some promising newcomers. There's one person who's highly qualified, but he doesn't seem to have an interest in football. Since you're well-liked by everyone, I thought if you accompany me, we could persuade him to join the training."

Li Ya maintained his smile and responded, "No problem, classmate Lana. So, which lucky boy is worthy of your persuasion?"

Lana mentioned a name, saying, "Clark Kent!"

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